"You're saying that what is inside of me is not just a vortex, but a prison, one where over a hundred souls are being kept?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"And those souls, they are the servants of some being that existed millions of years ago, was defeated and put in the prison, and some of her soul is inside my soul?"
"Yes, which was why you were being influenced, as I said before, I have the fragments of my late friend's soul as well, and they seem to be the soul fragments of that being called Alfrea that had fused with her soul."
"So, they were trying to get the fragments you have, which was why my soul was influenced because of the fragments I have, and thus made me strip and want to sleep with you?"
"That's the gist of it."
"Why does that woman Alfrea want to sleep with you?"
"I have no idea, it could be the fragments of my friend that are making you do that, but I doubt it, she wasn't like that at all, the only thing I can think of is that Alfrea was not the holy person that the souls want me to believe she is, or that something else is happening entirely, honestly, I think that both of those reasons might be true."
"So you believe that they are lying?"
"Oh, I don't think so, I know so, that guy was definitely omitting a lot when he was speaking to me, there are simply too many things that don't add up, his story was fabricated for sure, I just have no idea how much of it was fabricated."
Liara sighed before putting her head in her hands and shaking it. She hoped that the vortex was merely something that appeared in her soul coincidentally and could be dealt with rather quickly, but it was becoming more and more obvious that things were extremely complicated.
"So, did they say anything about me?"
"Well, the only thing they said was that they are waiting for you to die so that they can get the fragments that will remain, nothing else."
"So, I'm supposed to live the rest of my life with an entire prison made out of darkness inside my soul?"
"Don't worry, I didn't say that, did I?" Reign told Liara with a smile on his face as he thought back of the notification he had received.
Ding!
[ The player has found a clue to his personal mission and challenge mission. ]
[ The player has managed to find out more about the mysterious artifact, as well as clues that explained more about Liara and the reason why she is familiar to the player's late friend, investigating things further is currently the best choice for the player. ]
Reign knew that there was something that was going on with the entire situation. He knew that the system wouldn't simply give him a quest that would end at 'You need to wait until you die and they will be gone.'
The bonus mission, the challenge as well as the personal mission, were connected, all three of them.
Reign didn't know why, but he strongly felt that the thing he needed to do in order to help Liara was to get the artifact. That was his bonus mission, and he was certain that if he was the one to find and get the artifact, he could use it to help her.
He didn't forget the reaction the souls around the barrier had when he mentioned the existence of the artifact. They called Alfrea the holiest of Saints, so an artifact that she had personally used had to be an incredible one.
Saints were so powerful that they could decimate an entire planet by themselves, turning it into a wasteland if they so wished to, and one that held such a title was definitely not an average Saint.
The artifact was definitely one of unimaginable power, and Reign knew that they had to get it as the consequences of the demons gaining control over it would be enormous.
Luckily, with the fragments he had, as well as the ones in Liara's soul, he was certain that even if the demons found the artifact, they wouldn't be able to do anything with it and he would be able to gain control over it without great difficulty.
"So, what's next?" Liara suddenly asked Reign with a solemn expression on her face.
"Well, we need to tell the others, it is important for them to know what is going on, of course, we don't need to tell them everything, only the parts that are important and helpful for understanding the current situation and the mission."
"We now know exactly how you function as the 'key' and can go out to explore without worrying much, after all, without any fragments of Alfrea's soul, it will be nearly impossible for the demons to gain control of the artifact."
"Do you really think so?"
"Well, I hope so, after all, fragments of the soul of a Saint are not easily found, and I doubt that the demons will have the help of a Saint-ranked demon, which might be the only being that can help them get the artifact without the fragments," Reign said confidently.
After all, for Transcendents to land on a planet that was undergoing the trial that the system had given meant that their powers would be heavily suppressed, and Saints would fare even worse.
Reign doubted that such a powerful being would come voluntarily down here without knowing what the artifact is, after all, only he knew that the artifact was one that was wielded by a Saint in the past.
"We just need to make sure that nobody finds out about the artifact's power, we will not tell anyone that a Saint had used it in the past, we should tell them that a Transcendent was the previous wielder, after all, everybody believed that the artifact was one that can be wielded by Transcendents, so nothing will change if we lie about it."
"And Alfrea, do we tell them about her existence, as well as the soul fragments?"
"Yes, and don't worry, I have already checked everybody, I have sensed no demon influence on any person that was in the hall, but still, we need to be careful, one can never know whether the demons have used some means to hide the demonic influence that was in one's soul, that is why I wish to hide some things from the others."
Liara nodded her head in understanding. She fully understood where Reign was coming from. Years ago, one of the leaders of a region had suddenly turned out to be a traitor, and nobody had managed to notice it.
Ever since then, the 10 remaining regions had become even more careful when it came to investigating demonic influence. For the first two years, if a person was so much as suspected to be a traitor that worked with demons, they would be apprehended and interrogated while the guards would search every nook and cranny of the person's home to find anything.
Many were also tortured, which brought some hate in the regions as those that were truly innocent could not bring themselves to trust those that were supposed to protect them ever again.
Of course, some had also been found to truly be traitors or demonic worshippers.
Reign and Liara got dressed and went out before calling for yet another meeting, which surprised everybody present.
Upon arriving in the hall, everybody patiently waited for Reign to start speaking as they knew that something had happened. The previous time Reign had called for a meeting was last night, and that was when a lot of new information was given to them, they expected a similar situation to occur again.
None of them, however, expected to hear the words that Reign had spoken. He had told them about what happened recently, how he went into Liara's soul to reinforce the barrier only to find himself in a dangerous situation.
The entire story of how he ventured into the vortex, found that it was a prison holding over a hundred souls inside of it, and had the soul fragments of a Transcendent that were also present in Liara, as well as the fragments of Reign's late friend, was told to them, making them all gulp and stare in shock.
No matter who, they were all shocked and surprised to hear what was going on. Upon hearing how the artifact was one that the Transcendent had personally used, and should respond to Liara if she got close to it, those present clenched their fists in excitement.
That meant that even if the demons or monsters find the artifact first by some stroke of luck, they won't be able to control it, not without any fragments of Alfrea's soul. Of course, Reign had told them to think of the worst-case scenario, that the demons might possess the fragments as well, just so that they could be ready on the off chance that happens.
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